Episode Recap: The Series Has Landed

The Professor shows Fry, Leela and Bender his company's newest
television commercial, which depicts an angry gelatinous blob
terrorizing an employee when a delivery package from Earth does not
arrive in time. As the blob ingests the employee, the announcer states
that Planet express's crew is expendable, but its delivery packages are
not. Fry, Leela and Bender stare in horror. Later, the Professor
introduces Hermes Conrad to his crew. Hermes, a certified bureaucrat,
notes that a package was dropped through the slot in the front office
the previous evening. The Professor appoints Leela the new captain. But
before the journey to deliver the package can get underway, the
Professor insists that Fry visit the staff physician, Dr. Zoidberg (who
resembles a large red humanoid lobster). Though Zoidberg is somewhat
unfamiliar with the human body, Fry nonetheless manages to pass the
physical. A short time later, the Professor introduces his staff to Amy
Wong, an engineering student from Mars University who is interning at
the company. Leela tells the others that the Mars Wongs are fabulously
wealthy. As the group heads towards the spaceship, Leela announces that
their destination is the moon. Fry is ecstatic as he conjures up images
of Neil Armstrong and low gravity. Leela warns him, however, that the
lunar surface has changed somewhat since the 20 th century. The ship
reaches the moon in a matter of a few seconds. Fry runs down the
gangplank…only to encounter a colossal amusement park.

Leela tells Fry that once the crate is successfully delivered to its
addressee, the group can visit the amusement park. As the crate is
hoisted out of the ship, the keys to the spaceship fly out of Amy's
pocket and stick to the winch's magnet. Unfortunately, none of the crew
members notice the mishap, and they soon set upon their journey to Luna
Park. There they enjoy exhibits featuring animatronic whalers and
robotic goofy gophers. Fry grows dismayed with the artificiality of the
park. He yearns to experience the moon's surface like an astronaut.
Leela decides to take him on the lunar rover ride, an educational tour
of the lunar surface as seen from a moon buggy-type kiddie car. But it,
too, proves a disappointment. Fry manages to make the car jump its
track. He steers it out onto the moon's surface. Unfortunately, the
buggy slides down the wall of a crater, where Fry and Leela begin
sinking into quicksand-like dust. Meanwhile, Amy and Bender watch as a
teamster dumps the contents of the crate into a mechanical claw game.
Amy reacts with horror as the spaceship keys fall into the claw machine.
She inserts a coin into the device and begins fishing for the keys.

Fry and Leela continue sinking into the dust. Thinking quickly, Leela
opens a valve on an oxygen canister, jetting the pair out of the crater.
At first, Fry is ecstatic. But Leela points out that their oxygen is now
almost depleted. Eventually, the pair comes upon a farm dome. They enter
the structure, remove their helmets and inhale the fresh air. Moments
later, a degenerate hillbilly farmer steps forward, shotgun in hand. He
allows the pair to sleep in the barn. But he warns of dire consequences
should anyone touch his three beautiful robotic daughters. Meanwhile,
Bender gets thrown out of the amusement park when security guards
observe him attempting to cheat at the claw game. He wanders onto the
farmer's property…and is quickly accused of sleeping with the
Crushinator, one of the robotic daughters. Bender encounters Fry and
Leela inside the dome. As shots ring out, the threesome make their way
to the lunar rover. The farmer climbs aboard the Crushinator and gives
chase. Leela presses down on the accelerator and sails over a ravine.
But the much heavier Crushinator grinds to a halt at the ravine's edge.
Declaring her love for Bender, the Crushinator refuses to jump. Moments
later, the lunar sunset sweeps towards Leela, Fry and Bender. Fearing
the extreme cold, Leela and Fry run from the darkness. They happen upon
an Apollo space capsule, and take refuge inside. Fry tells Leela that he
used to dream of being an astronaut, and viewed the moon as a romantic,
mysterious thing. But Fry sadly concludes that the moon is a dull rock.
With that, Leela turns and looks out the window. She sees the lunar
landscape bathed in the bluish glow of the Earth. She suddenly realizes
that the moon is beautiful after all. Meanwhile, the hillbilly farmer
once again catches up with Bender. At the last possible moment, the
Planet Express spaceship rises over the horizon. Using he magnetic
wench, Amy snags Bender. As the ship continues on its journey, the
magnet also snares the lunar lander.